


Safe Haven

by SockMunchies



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Inappropriate Erections, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Spoilers, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:02:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SockMunchies/pseuds/SockMunchies
Summary: Erin's first time in Goodneighbor doesn't end out so well. Not only does she almost get robbed, but she also gets blackout drunk in the first day.One good thing that came out it, was that she met the man she would fall in love with.Yes I'm aware this is a weak summary, but you can just read it and figure out what it's about.





	Safe Haven

**Author's Note:**

> WAIT!!! Before you even begin to read know this:  
> THIS. IS. EXTREMLEY. OUT. OF. CHARACTER!  
> The dialogue was hard to get down, as I wrote this all in one night and had to do it all from memory.  
> This fic is one of those 'alternate universes' kind of. During a mission, Erin gets...well...you can read for yourself.  
> Just don't get mad at me if you hate it.
> 
> Also, this was part of a series I started while writing a story for school. It follows the original Fallout 4 story, but Shaun in this case is a baby girl named Cherry and the SS' husband is named Mat.
> 
> After re-reading it, i realized that there were a ton of spelling and grammatical mistakes, so do not point them out to me individually. I am not making the effort to go through every single line to make it perfect. However, i will monitor my grammar and spelling from now on.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Erin meets MacCready. Mercenary, and overall hot guy. What she thought was just going to be another merc turned out to be so much more. After afew months of traveling, Erin finds herself bitten by a ghoul while getting MacCready the prevent he needs for his son. There is some fluff after this, at the end, if your interested only in that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a doozy...but here we go!
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading my story, imperfect and full of grammatical errors!

Safe Haven 

As Erin wandered around the remains of the Boston Common, she noticed something on the edge of the pond. A red line seemingly leading to something. She followed the line back to where it started and on a sign that was propped up against a statue, the words “Follow the Freedom Trail” were painted on with white paint. 

“Not the most normal thing to find in an abandoned park, but whatever.” Erin stated as she looked around for a bit. Erin made the executive decision to follow the trail. 

“Could lead strait to a death trap, but I could also find one hell of an adventure.” Erin said, shrugging her shoulders to herself and following the path. The path was supposed to be a pre-war tourist thing, going by all the famous landmarks in Boston. However, all the famous landmarks were now empty ruins at this point. As Erin followed the trail further, killing ghouls and super mutants on the way, she began to realize what this was all about. In her brief time in Diamond City, Erin had learned of a group of people who wanted to help synths. 

“The Railroad, I think their called…” Erin said aloud as she continued down the path. Her thoughts were cut short by a neon sign coming into view. Erin stepped closer, readying her gun for any signs of a possible ambush. She had lived long enough in the commonwealth to know that anything remotely suspicious could lead to her ultimate demise. As she stepped closer, she could start to make out the lettering on the huge neon sign. The sign read ‘Goodneighbor’ and it was flashing all kinds of colors. 

“Goodneighbor, huh?” Erin said as she stepped closer to the door into what she guessed was a town. Her hand hesitated over the doorknob into the town. Erin knew that there was an 80/20 chance of her coming back out of this alive. Erin also knew that she would put up a decent fight, before her death, of course. Erin took a breath and opened the door. To her surprise (and relief) nothing shot at her the moment she stepped through the gate. Instead, a handsome man stood before her, dressed in some road leathers and sunglasses. The man held a cigarette in one hand, and rested the other in his stomach. He leaned on a stone pillar that connected to a short stone wall. He wasn’t unbelievably handsome, but then again, no one in the commonwealth was. This man was above the average handsomeness of commonwealth men. Just as Erin came through the door, the man dropped the cigarette and walked towards Erin.

“first time in Goodneighbor?” The man asked Erin, seemingly looking her over for some unknown reason. 

“Depends, who the hell are you?” Erin said in her usual suspicious manner. 

“haha, ain’t that the real question.” The man said with a smirk on his face, “I’m Finn.” 

“Erin.” She said, holding her hand over the pistol she kept at her side, ready to be sprung on at any moment. Finn looked at Erin for a few moments, then began to speak.

“If it is your first time, you can’t go walkin’ around these days without ‘insurance’” Finn said, trying the hide his smile and stifle a laugh.

“You know what, Finn,” Erin began to say, “I think the only insurance I need right now is ‘keep dumb assholes away from me’ insurance, ya get me?” Finn looked down and stifled another, bigger laugh.

“Nice one” He said, “but seriously. How about I make you a deal, huh?” 

“What kind of deal could you possibly have for me?” Erin said, holding her hand closer to her pistol.

“You turn out your pockets, right now,” Finn said, reaching for a switchblade, “or your insides become outsides.” 

“Doesn’t sound like a good deal if you ask me.” Erin said, pulling out her gun and aiming it between Finns eyes. She didn’t even hesitate to pull the trigger on her mugger. Erin wasn’t the type of person to hesitate when she was in danger. She knew that one of them would end up on the ground, and it wasn’t going to be her. Just as Erin put her smoking pistol back in its holster, another man came sauntering over. 

“Nice shot.” He said, in a low raspy voice. The man was a ghoul, but the good kind. The kind that didn’t have cravings for human flesh. 

“What, you want one to?” Erin said, still staring unapologetically at the dead body in front of her. 

“Whoa, now.” He said, “it’s just a compliment.” He was wearing the clothes of a familiar historical figure that Erin couldn’t name. She never paid attention in history class, now she was coming to regret it. 

“So, you here to arrest me, or what? I’m waiting.” Erin said, holding out her hands.  
He laughed and started to walk closer to Erin. She backed up at his approach and he seemed to notice and backed away as well. 

“I’m Hancock, mayor of this beautiful slice of paradise called Goodneighbor.” He said, smiling and gesturing over the town. Erin now realized what clothes he was wearing. John Hancock, first American hoodlum and defender of the people. 

“Random muggings a regular thing around here?” Erin said, “or am I special?” Hancock glanced over Erin. She wasn’t wearing her vault suit like she usually did. She felt that she was liable to get robbed more times than she could count wearing that thing in the city. Instead, she was wearing jean shorts and a Nuka-Cola tank top. For style purposes, she had a sash around her waist. For practical purposes, she had two leather harnesses strapped to her chest. One had ammo, the other had all her favorite guns and knives. Her sniper rifle was fastened to her back along with her assault rifle. She had two 10mm pistols strapped to her sides, and three different kinds of knives to her chest. The pouches on her harnesses were all filled to the brim with ammunition. She was and felt like a one-woman army. 

“Your probably just special.” Hancock said, folding his arms, “you alright, do I even need to ask?”

“You don’t, but I’m fine. Aint exactly my first mugging.” Erin said, now looking Hancock directly in the eyes. His eyes were black, like most ghouls. But his eyes had something in them, that grabbed hold of Erin’s glance and wouldn’t let go. They were like this for some time, until Hancock finally spoke up. 

“Well, anyways, this is goodneighbor,” Hancock said, “Of the people for the people, you feel me?”

“Of the people for the people? Oh brother…” Erin stated under her breath. She knew she would like this town, but she didn’t want to show it. 

“I’m know I’m gonna like you already. You can stay here, just so long as you remember who’s in charge.” Hancock said as he turned back and went into the old state house. Erin wandered around the town a bit until she found what she assumed was a bar. It was called ‘The Third Rail’ and everyone in town seemed to call it a bar.

“What’s the worst that can happen.” Erin stated as she entered. The bouncer for this supposed bar was a ghoul much like Hancock, except he was wearing a suit. 

“Hancock says newcomers are, welcome, in the third rail.” He said, “Go on in, don’t bother the other patrons.” Erin made a gesture to him and walked down the stairs into the bar. As it came into view, she saw many ‘patrons’ sitting, drinking, and talking. Music was playing and the singer was on stage was in a lovely red sequin dress. Her hair was short and black, which framed her face perfectly. As Erin made her way to the bar, she noticed the bartender was a robot, much like Codsworth. However, this one had an Australian-esque accent which was very different from Codsworth’s very British accent. 

“what’ll it be?” The robot said vaguely gesturing his metal arm to the wide selection of alcoholic beverages behind him on the shelf. 

“Strongest?” Erin asked, slumped over her pip-boy looking at her information. 

“We got beer, and if you aint buyin’ beer, you aint buyin’.” The robot said. Erin didn’t know if he was being rude, or if this was just how he sounded. 

“Fine, beer, whatever,” Erin stated, “Just make sure it keeps coming. I got the caps, if you got the booze.” Erin pointed to a large sack filled with about 1-2 thousand bottle caps. 

“Alright, then.” The robot said, sliding over 5 full beer bottles, all ice cold.  
Just as Erin finished her 6th drink, a woman in a ratty skirt came up from behind her. 

“Another one of you mercs looking for MacCready? He’s in the back.” The woman said, pointing to a VIP section of the bar. Erin didn’t know who the hell this MacCready guy was, and she really didn’t care. All she cared about now was how much beer she could get in her before she passed out on the floor in her own vomit. Erin finished her 20th beer and decided that if she drank any more, she would die of alcohol poisoning. That wasn’t the way she wanted to go, so she headed to the nearest hotel. Luckily enough, the town had a “Hotel Rexford” right next to the bar. As Erin wobbled in, she took out 15 caps and set it on the counter. 

“Top floor, last door to the right.” The desk woman told Erin. Erin emitted what she thought was a thank you, but was instead a slurred mess, and dragged herself to the top floor. After a few attempts, Erin finally made it to her room and collapsed onto the bed, passing out almost immediately.  
Erin’s dreams that night were filled with that man from before, Hancock, was it? Erin couldn’t remember anything from yesterday. All she could remember is drinking 20 beers and then regretting it in the morning. Oddly enough, she vaguely remembered the name MacCready coming up, whoever that was. Erin went down to the main desk and handed the woman 20 more caps. 

“Just let me stay for the day, if you want more I got it. No visitors.” She said as she held her head in pain. 

“Alright.” The woman said with a blank expression on her face, as if she had done this hundreds of times already. The day was filled with moans and groans coming from Erin, who was regretting ever coming to this damned town. 

“Don’t ever give me alcohol.” Erin said to herself, vowing to never taste another drop of booze ever again in her entire life. Erin passed out around 2 in the morning, and awoke felling much better. As she arose from her bed, she thought about the merc named MacCready that apparently resided in the third rail. Erin knew that she needed an extra gun at her back, though she never wanted to admit it. So, against all her better judgement, she hauled herself back over the third rail. Instead of getting black-out drunk like last time, Erin made a B-line for the VIP room. Surprisingly, MacCready was still there sitting in a chair in corner of the room. Erin stood there for a moment, her mind blanking for a reason that she didn’t know. MacCready was better looking than almost everyone Erin had met in her travels across the commonwealth. She didn’t know why, but Erin felt a fluttering in her stomach, and a sudden tense-up in her chest. MacCready had blue eyes and dirty blond hair, he had a defined and strong jawline that matched well with his overall look. His eyes were piercing and shot threw Erin like a cold spear. Erin tried to speak, but her throat couldn’t muster any words. She just stood their awkwardly like a high school student with a crush on a boy, not able to speak. Erin tried to suppress these feeling, but they were persistent. After a self-confidence talk, and a few deep breaths, Erin finally was able to talk to MacCready. 

“H-Hey…” Was all Erin was able to mumble out before immediately getting too embarrassed to continue.

“Was wondering how long you were going to stand there.” MacCready said, sipping on a drink he held in his hand.

“I-uh…well…sorry.” Erin said, still battling to persistent urge to run away and never come back. 

“Its fine, I’ll just take it as a compliment and leave it at that.” MacCready laughed and all the felling came rushing back to Erin in one swift moment. Erin rubbed the back of her neck and tensed up the rest of her body. Why was she feeling this way? She just met the guy and she already has the urge to kiss him. Actually no, way more than just kiss him. Erin finally coughed up what she meant to say.

“I heard that you were a mercenary, right?” Erin said, trying to calm down.

“Yep, the best one in the commonwealth.” He said, raising his glass.

“How much?” Erin paused, “To hire you I mean.” Erin was stumbling over her words so much she felt embarrassed not only for herself, but for MacCready since he had to listen to it. 

“Hire me for what?” MacCready asked

“Oh, uh…” Erin said, very much struggling to get any words out of her mouth, “I need and extra gun watching my back.” Erin let out a small sigh relieved that it came out the way she planned.

“300 caps, but I like you, so 275.” Maccready said in a calm tone, clearly holding back the urge to laugh at Erin’s inability to calm herself. 

“Oh, okay, that’s all?” Erin asked, surprised at the cheap cost to hire someone so devilishly good looking. 

“Yep, up front, no refunds, non-negotiable.” MacCready said, putting a smile on his face. Erin tensed up again, staring at his perfect smile. What wasn’t perfect about this guy? Erin thought as she reached behind her to grab 275 caps. As she handed the caps to MacCready, his hand briefly brushed against hers and she felt lightheaded all of a sudden. Like she had the night before, just without the drink. 

“Alright, boss, let’s get out of here.” MacCready said, standing up. He grabbed his gun and slung it over his shoulder in one swift movement. Erin watched him move and felt a persistent nagging in her head. She knew this feeling well, the urge to grab someone and kiss them right then and there. She wanted to, and she could’ve. However, Erin would rather keep her new found gun instead of losing him because she can’t control her teenage-like hormones.  
_______  
It had been at least 3 months since Erin had first hired MacCready. The moments where she couldn’t speak to him without losing control lasted for most of the 3 months, but went away eventually as Erin grew more comfortable with him. Soon enough, they were joking with each other and having actual conversations without the awkward staring and silences. They were still there, but in smaller amounts. The awkward silences only came when MacCready touched any part of Erin’s body for any particular reason. Erin had helped MacCready take out several Gunner waystations at this point, and Erin felt as if MacCready considered her a friend. A friend, yes.  
As Erin and MacCready set up a makeshift camp, the day faded away and night came quicker than either of them had anticipated. Erin sat on a fallen tree and MacCready on the ground. Both sat close to a fire, on opposite sides of course. The reason being that any physical contact between Erin and this man would make her so tense, she would turn into a literal statue. Just as Erin was getting comfortable, a strong wind blew through the valley where they had set up camp. The wind was brief, but was strong enough to put out the fire they had made. Erin reached in her pack and looked for a lighter. She had one, but it was out of fuel.

“Figures.” Erin angrily exclaimed as she looked in MacCready’s vague direction, “Got a lighter?”

“No, left it at the last camp we had.” MacCready said, in a surprisingly calm tone given the situation they were in. Another cold wind rushed through the camp and almost knocked Erin off the tree she was sitting on. She regained her balance and decided that it was late enough to go to bed. 

“I’m going to sleep, want to stay watch for tonight?” Erin said, starting to rise up and gather her things.

“Yea, sure.” MacCready exclaimed as he, too, gathered his things to get to the watch position.  
As Erin climbed into the sleeping bag, she couldn’t help but feel as if something was wrong. The way MacCready sounded when he agreed to take watch was wrong. It didn’t sound like his usual upbeat and sarcastic tone. He was more somber, and somewhat sad. Erin poked her head out from the makeshift tent and saw MacCready. He was sitting on the ground looking down at something. Erin slowly and quietly emerged from the tent and watched. MacCready let out a small sigh and continued looking down. Just then, MacCready began to talk.

“I miss you, Lucy…” MacCready said, quietly, but just loud enough so that Erin could hear. Was Lucy his mom, his wife? Wife was more probable but Erin didn’t want to assume. Erin stood up and walked slowly over to MacCready. 

“Are…are you ok?” Erin said, putting her hand on MacCready’s shoulder. This seemed to startle him as he gave a small jolt before slumping over again.

“Yea, it’s just...” MacCready began, but was unable to finish. Erin sat on the ground next to him in the dark. It was peaceful and quiet, and Erin liked that. 

“Whatever it is, you know you can tell me, MacCready.” Erin said, looking at the object in his hand. He held a small wooden solider toy, on the bottom of it read “Lucy”. 

“Was she your wife?” Erin asked, in as calm a tone as she could muster.

“Yeah, she was…sh-she…” MacCready stopped before he began to cry. Erin didn’t say anything, as she felt it would ruin the mood. She just held her hand up on his shoulder and listened to the silence. MacCready let out a big sigh and continued.

“She died, a few years back.” He said, “We made the mistake of holding up in an old metro station.” Erin remained silent and continued to listen.

“We didn’t know the place was infested with ferals,” He sighed, “they were on her before I could even fire a shot.” Erin didn’t know what to say, or what she could say to make him feel better. They both just remained silent for what seemed like hours. 

“Duncan, my son,” MacCready said, “he was there. Took everything I had to escape with him in my arms.” He let out a small sigh and looked down at the solider toy.

“It was brave.” Erin said, “you may have lost your wife, but you saved your son. That counts for something.”

“Thank you…” MacCready said, letting out a feeble smile before looking back down at the toy.

“She made this for me, you know.” MacCready stated, “I told her I was a solider. Could never bring myself to tell her what I really was. That I was just a hired killer.” Erin remained silent again and listened.

“The solider story was the best thing I could come up with.” He said, “she made this for me…” MacCready again sighed and turned to face Erin.

“Listen,” MacCready said, in a more worried and panicked tone then before, “My son, h-he’s sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, all I know is that one day he’s running out in the fields behind our farm, and the next he’s in bed with blue boils popping up all over his body…” 

“There has to be a cure.” Erin said, looking at MacCready in a similar worried expression. After hearing his story, and having spent so much time with him, she was prepared to go to hell and back to help his son. 

“A few years back I bumped into a guy named Sinclair on my way to the Commonwealth.” MacCready said, putting the solider back in his pocket.

“He told me his buddy had caught some kind of disease,” He continued, “At first I thought he was just wasting my time, but then he said his partner broke out in blue boils…”

“Did they find a cure?” Erin asked 

“Yes, they tracked it down to some place called Med-Tec research,” MacCready’s expression lit up with hope, “They even got the building security lockdown codes.”

“Wouldn’t they have already gotten the cure, then?” Erin asked, worrying her expression.

“No, Sinclair’s friend died before they could break into the facility.” MacCready stated.

“Oh, okay. Well, that’s good for us.” Erin said awkwardly, felling extremely stupid afterwards. 

“Heh, yea, guess you’re right.” MacCready said, starting to stand up.

“We can head out right now, actually. Suns starting to come up.” Erin stated, also getting up and cleaning the makeshift camp. MacCready stopped her and put his hand on her shoulder. 

“What you’re doing, no one has ever cared about me this much before,” He said, looking down, “Thank you.” Erin smiled. She wasn’t feeling tense at all, or having that weird butterfly feeling in her stomach like she did the first time they met. Instead, she felt happy and hopeful,  
two things she had not felt in a long time.

“Your welcome, MacCready.” Erin said, with a big smile on her face. As they finished cleaning up the camp, Erin and MacCready began their long trek to Med-Tec Research.  
___________  
After 4 days of straight traveling, Erin and MacCready finally made it to Med-Tec. Erin grabbed her sniper rifle off her back and looked down the scope. The front of the building was infested with feral ghouls. Two radioactive ones, three roamers, and 5 regular. They were all spread out across the parking lot, so she couldn’t use a frag grenade. Ferals were too perceptive, so she couldn’t snipe them off one by one. Glowing ones emanated deadly radioactive gases, so knives were out of the question for at least two of them. The only other option, which was Erin’s least favorite, was go in with an assault rifle, guns blazing, and hope for the best. Erin never liked hoping for the best, since luck never really was her strong suit. However, it was the only way to get into the building, and she wasn’t going to give up now. She put away her sniper and grabbed her assault rifle. She then gestured to MacCready to do the same. Five minutes of loud gunfire and screeching ferals resulted in a pile of radioactive ghouls. 

“Now that that’s over, ready to head in?” Erin asked MacCready, who was covered in feral blood.

“Even need to ask?” MacCready said, smiling at Erin and wiping ghoul bits out of his hair. Erin and MacCready made their way through the building, blasting and shooting at the ferals that went past them. At some parts, Erin got to use her favorite knife to cut the heads off the undead mutations. When they finally made it to the control room, MacCready handed Erin the access codes for the computer.

“This better work, or were screwed.” MacCready said, mentally and literally crossing his fingers. Erin let out a small laugh and unlocked the computer. She used the codes to override the security lockdown and allow them access to the sub level of the complex. As both Erin and MacCready sliced and shot their way through hordes of angry zombies, they made it to the room where the cure was stored. Erin looked through a window and saw a red needle sitting on a table.

“Is that it?” Erin asked, gesturing to the medicine on the counter.

“Y-yea, that’s it! We found it!” MacCready said, clearly excited to get this home to his son. Erin opened the door to the room and stepped inside. She cut through several rounds of ferals until one lunged at her and made her topple to the floor, dropping her knife in the process. Erin tried to reach back to grab her gun, but to no avail. The feral had pinned her in such a way as the block access to all her guns. If she tried to grab one of her other knives, the feral would chew her arm off. She tried to reach for her knife that had slid away from her, but it was too far away. The feral was about 5 inches from her face and spewing saliva all over Erin. 

“M-MacCready!” Erin shouted, struggling to push the feral away. Just as she shouted, her arm gave out and the feral fell on top of her, biting her several times in both her arms, once on the ribs, and three times in the stomach. Erin screamed in pain as the ferals teeth sank into her skin, leaving trials of blood and radiation over her body. As the feral got its last bite out of her stomach, Maccready shot its head clean off and it went rolling to the floor. Erin laid on the floor, in too much pain for her brain to comprehend. MacCready came rushing to her side and held several of the major wounds on her stomach.

“N-no, get the cure to your son…p-please.” Erin said, knowing how important that cure was to MacCready.  
“I’m not just leaving you here to die!” MacCready yelled as he fumbled around his pack for stimpacks and radaway. Erin attempted to speak, but the pain had taken over her mind and she was unable to do anything but moan in pain. MacCready injected three stimpacks into Erin’s arms, chest, and stomach. Also supplying Erin with generous amounts of radaway. Erin was bleeding out quicker than Maccready was able to patch her up. As Erin began to lose consciousness, she saw the life she had before the war, her husband, daughter. All of that gone in an instant because idiots with nukes couldn’t control themselves. Erin let out a weak laugh just before passing out in MacCready’s arms. MacCready got up, grabbed the red needle and carried Erin outside to the front of the building. As he finished putting bandages on her to stop the bleeding, he notices Erin’s face began to go white. She was dying, and there had to be something he could do to prevent it. The walk to diamond city would take too long, and Goodneighbor doesn’t have doctors. MacCready looked at Erin’s Pip-boy for any local settlements. He saw one, but it was just a farming settlement. A settlement called The Slog which was inhabited entirely by ghouls, it was also one of the commonwealths most pronounced Tarberry producers. He decided that this settlement was close enough, and maybe he would get lucky and find a doctor. Maybe even a caravan doctor. MacCready had to move fast, as Erin’s life was quickly fading away. In her state of unconsciousness, Erin could see everyone she helped in the commonwealth, everyone she killed. All of the raiders and all of the epic battles she fought. She then began to realize that this was not how she wanted to die, no it wasn’t. She didn’t want to die because she got too confident with a knife for her own good. She wasn’t dying to a feral. As Erin realized this, the harder she fought for her own life. She knew if she died, many people in the commonwealth would be affected by it. She also realized how much she cared for her own life, she cared more now than she ever has before. On the brink of death, she’s now realized this. 

“Almost, there…” MacCready grunted as he carried Erin up the large hill leading to the settlement. The settlement was small, but strategic. There was a pool for growing all kinds of food. The pool also leaked into the nearby soil, making it fertile for more than just Tarberry growth. As MacCready neared the settlement, a settler wearing what seemed to be a lab coat approached him.

“You have injured?” The man said, gesturing to the unconscious Erin. 

“Yes, she was bitten by a feral,” MacCready said, trying to catch his breath, “several times.”

“Oh, alright. Bring her in, I might just be able to fix her up.” The man said, moving his hand in a motion that told MacCready to follow him. As MacCready entered the settlements main building, the supposed doctor came up with several medical tools, lots of roadway, and about 10-15 stimpacks. 

“You might not want to be here for this.” He said, picking up bandage scissors and cutting off the filthy bandages MacCready had used earlier. 

“How long do you think it will take?” MacCready panted, anxious for the doctor’s response. 

“Probably about 2 days to get rid of the radiation, and 2 more to stich up the wounds. But that’s just a rough estimate.” The doctor said, sounding like he knew what he was doing.

“Alright, I will be back in a few days…I need to make a delivery to Goodneighbor.” MacCready said, patting his bag which contained the medication for his son.

“Good luck to you, that place is dangerous.” The man said, looking inquisitively at Erin.  
________  
The delivery of the Prevent when smoothly. MacCready had delivered it to Daisy, and she gave it to one of the trusted caravans that went out of the commonwealth and near to where MacCready’s son lived. She also supplied them with a generous amount of caps to make sure the medicine arrived in time. MacCready made his way back to The Slog to check on Erin. To his surprise, when he got there, Erin was sleeping peacefully in a bed just as if she hadn’t been bitten by a feral. 

“She made a full recovery. Those were some nasty bites, though.” The doctor said, looking over to MacCready. 

“Thank you for doing this, doc.” MacCready said, smiling at the ghoul doctor.

“Anything for a friend. She’s the one that got this settlement the way it is. Before, well, let’s just say it wasn’t very good before she arrived.” The doctor said, letting out a small and quiet laugh. MacCready reached into his bag and got about one hundred caps out.

“Will this be enough?” MacCready said, holding out the bag to the doctor.

“Caps aren’t necessary. I told you, this settlement owes their lives to this woman, it’s the least we could do for her.” The doctor said, gently pushing away MacCready’s hand. MacCready thanked the doctor again and walked over to Erin who was still sleeping. He sat in a chair close by to the bed and waited for her to wake up. After about an hour, Erin started to stir in the bed. MacCready readied himself for her awakening. After a few groans came out of Erin, MacCready began to talk.

“Are you feeling alright?” MacCready asked, knowing fully well that she was probably not. 

“Well, let me think,” Erin paused, “hell no.” She turned onto her back and held her stomach. When she lifted her hand, she noticed the blood soaked bandage that wrapped around most of her torso, covering all the most private bits. 

“Can’t a girl get a little privacy...?” Erin said, still tired from having gone through so much. MacCready laughed and put his hand on the bed.

“You went through a lot,” MacCready continued, “you got bitten by a feral, and almost died.” Erin looked up at the ceiling and thought to herself. 

“Thank you, MacCready.” Erin said, fully aware that she almost died because of her own self confidence. MacCready stayed silent and put Erin’s hand in his. 

“I wasn’t about to let you die, not after everything you did for me.” MacCready smiled and looked Erin in her eyes. They were a vibrant shade of blue and stood out from the paleness of her skin, and dark redness of her hair. MacCready’s glance then met Erin’s lips, which were black, but with a subtle blue around the edges. He stared at her for some time before Erin finally noticed. She let out a small laugh and looked away from MacCready, embarrassed.

“You keep looking at me like that, I’m going to start thinking I actually died and went to sovengarde.” Erin laughed and looked up at MacCready, who’s cheeks grew a bright shade of crimson. MacCready quickly changed to subject to something else.

“What’s sovengarde?” MacCready asked, felling incredibly stupid for staring at Erin. 

“It’s from a pre-war game, you wouldn’t understand.” Erin said, still laughing at the fact she caught him staring at her.

“Try me!” MacCready said, thinking back on all the pre-war stuff he found in his travels. Erin let out a sigh and began to explain on of her most favorite things about the pre-war world, videogames.

“Skyrim, it’s from Skyrim!” Erin admitted after minutes of explanation and letting MacCready guess, “I lost you already, didn’t I?” Erin laughed and slowly sat up in the bed, supporting her back on the wall. She was now facing MacCready and saw him, again, staring. This time MacCready was staring at Erin’s hair, which fell gracefully down the side of her face. Her hair was short, but bold. It was a seemingly unnatural shade of red, although Erin swore she never dyed it. Her hair mostly covered up one of her eyes, so she frequently had to sweep it behind her ear when fighting. MacCready always found that kind of cute, though he never admitted it. However, his glance was once again caught by Erin’s lips, which were set in a smirk. Looking at Erin’s lips made MacCready feel something he hadn’t felt since he was with Lucy, longing. MacCready wanted to take Erin and kiss her right then and there, but he was afraid that she would reject him. As he thought of this, Erin let out a sigh and put her head in her hands. 

“Now I’m starting to think I died and went to hell! why are you staring at me?” Erin laughed so hard after she said this that her bites began to hurt. She held her stomach for a while and laid back down on the bed. MacCready mustered a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I’m…going to talk to the doctor, see if you’re going to need anything else before we head back out.” MacCready said, more embarrassed than ever now. Erin laughed and nodded towards MacCready, who hurried off out of the building. Just as MacCready went out of Erin’s view, another man came sauntering over to Erin. She recognized him as the mayor of Goodneighbor, Hancock, right? He was still wearing the clothes of John Hancock like he was when she first met him. 

“Doing okay?” Hancock asked, wearing a suspicious smirk on his face.

“Hancock,” Erin paused, “tell me something, would you?” she began smiling that smile when she had something clever and sarcastically funny to say.

“Shoot.” Hancock said, crossing his arms.

“Did you sick you ghouls on me just so you could talk to me?” Erin smirked and looked at Hancock, who began laughing. 

“Not a bad idea, but no.” Hancock said, calming himself down. 

“Then why are you here? I’ve talked to you once, and even that wasn’t very pleasant.” Erin said, holding her stomach and ribs. 

“I saw MacCready out on the road talking to one of the caravans,” Hancock continued, “asked around and heard that something went down at Med-Tec, was it?” Hancock put his hand to his chin like he was thinking, even though he already knew what had happened. 

“What, worried I died and came back as a feral?” Erin laughed, “like one of those pre-war zombie movies.” Hancock laughed again and sat in the chair previously occupied by MacCready. After he sat down, his black eyes met Erin’s unnaturally blue eyes. Her dark red hair cascaded down her face, covering one eye up. Hancock’s gaze met Erin’s lips, and much like MacCready, stared at them for way to long. 

“Jesus, Hancock, not you to.” Erin groaned as she quickly covered her mouth, realizing that that was what they were both staring at. 

“Sorry not sorry.” Hancock said as he shrugged and laughed. It was true that him and Erin’s first meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant, but he was more than willing to make up for that. Just then, Erin closed her eyes and fell onto the bed on her side. She moved her hand under her head for comfort, then opened her eyes again. 

“Want to know something Hancock?” Erin quietly said as she sat up again and leaned closer to Hancock.

“What is it?” Hancock ask as he involuntarily leaned forward as well. Erin’s face came closer to Hancock’s and they were soon only inches from each other’s faces. Erin grabbed onto Hancock’s jacket and pulled him even closer. Erin smiled as she saw Hancock readying himself for a kiss. Erin pushed him back forcefully and slammed back down onto the bed. 

“It’s never happening.” Erin laughed as she saw Hancock fixing his jacket with a disappointed look on his face. Erin put her hand on her forehead and looked up at the ceiling. She was laying on her back, so she was very comfortable. She looked over to Hancock and saw him squirming about in his chair. She looked further down his body and noticed the fairly obvious bulge in his pants. If that happened when Erin was remotely close to Hancock, she wondered what would happen if she got even closer. Erin laughed and placed her hand behind her head.

“That a gun in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?” Erin said, looking Hancock directly in the face. He looked down and he saw the bulge which was pulsating in his pants. He took his hands and quickly covered it up, mortified by haven gotten so turned on. Just then, MacCready walked into the room and stared at Hancock, who suspiciously had his hands on his pants. Hancock swiftly got up from the chair, said a short goodbye, and almost ran out the door to the settlement. MacCready sat back down and looked down at Erin, who was still laughing. 

“What did you do, Erin?” MacCready asked, very confused about what just happened. Erin said nothing, but instead laughed harder than she had in a while and it felt good. When Erin finally calmed down, she sat up and propped her back on the backboard of the increasingly uncomfortable bed. 

“So, am I free to leave?” Erin said, “Or do I need further examination?” She said this in a way that made MacCready feel strange. It wasn’t uneasiness, but it wasn’t sensual either. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“No, he said you can leave whenever you’re up for it.” MacCready stated, feeling increasingly strange. Erin got up from the bed and put her shirt back on. God it felt good to be clothed again. 

“Then I’m ready, let’s go!” Erin said as she headed out the door. MacCready grabbed his gun and followed swiftly in her footsteps. As they made their way out of the settlement, Erin stopped to greet the local settlers and check how the farms had been doing. Since Erin last came to The Slog, they had begun to produce mutfruit and other assortments of food. One of the settlers even mentioned starting their own caravan going to and from Diamond City and The Slog. Erin congratulated them and left some parting gifts for the settlers. Mostly weapons, but also some extra purified waters. MacCready and Erin then left the slog and began another one of their Commonwealth adventures.  
_________________________

It was getting dark, and also cold. Erin shivered whenever the wind blew through the empty town they were exploring. MacCready offered her his jacket, but she refused. Her reason being that the only way she would not be cold is if she grew a tolerance for it. MacCready laughed and put his jacket back on. 

“It’s getting dark, we should find a place to set up a camp.” MacCready suggested, turning to face Erin.

“One of these old buildings might do the trick…” Erin said as she walked towards a mostly standing house. It wasn’t big by any means, but it could fit two people and it had doors. So that was good enough for a makeshift camp. Erin laid out two bedrolls and a cooking station to get some food. She tossed MacCready a purified water and sat down on one of the bedrolls. MacCready sat in an uncomfortable looking armchair and sipped peacefully as dusk became night. Erin looked up through the hole in the ceiling at the stars. Even in the post-apocalypse they were still beautiful. Erin then turned her attention to MacCready, who was dozing off the chair. 

“Fully functional bed right here, if you want it.” Erin said as she patted the bedroll next to hers. This seemed to startle MacCready as he suddenly jolted out of the armchair to his feet. He then relaxed when he realized there was no danger and looked down at Erin to see that she was laughing at him.

“Oh come on. It’s not that funny.” MacCready said as he let out a sigh, embarrassed at his actions.

“But it is, MacCready, it is.” Erin said as looked up at MacCready, who was rolling his eyes. He sat down next to her and laid down on the bedroll. He turned his head slightly to look at Erin, who was looking into the cooking station fire. The fire illuminated her face like he had never seen. The orange glow seemed to brighten her eyes ever so slightly, and made her hair look much more beautiful. Again, he wanted to sit up and kiss her, but he didn’t know how she would react and was afraid that he would die internally if she rejected him. Erin then laid down next to MacCready on her own bedroll and turned her head to face him. 

“What are you looking at?” Erin said sleepily, it had been a long day of adventuring and Erin was ready to sleep. This was the third or fourth time she caught him staring. She almost felt bad for not returning the favor. When they first met, Erin could barely talk to the guy, and now he was staring at her and somehow she hadn’t leaped on the chance to kiss him. This was surprising to Erin, but she knew why. She still loved her husband with all her heart, and she didn’t think that there was room for anyone else. As she looked into MacCready’s eyes, she felt a feeling she had not felt ever since she saw her husband. She felt…love. As the thought crossed her mind, she realized how cliché this was. In the old pre-war movies, the dorky middle school girl was always chasing after the hot jock guy. In this situation, however, the fumbling pre-war relic was chasing after the hot mercenary. She laughed to herself and looked up at the stars. MacCready joined her in doing this and they laid there for about 2 hours. MacCready looked at the stars and wondered if Erin could ever love him, like the way she loved her husband. He was afraid that if he did confess his feeling and she agreed, he would always feel like the second guy. He would never feel like Erin truly cared for him, that she would still be in love with her husband. Erin thought the same thing. She thought about if she could ever actually love another person as much as she loved her husband. Erin turned to face MacCready, and he turned to face Erin. They looked into each other’s eyes for a while before Erin brought her hand to touch MacCready’s face. This is exactly what she wanted to do the first time they met. She was getting her wish, and she wanted to soak in every minute of it.  
As Erin stroked MacCready’s cheek with her thumb, his hand came up and rested on her hip. He gripped tighter and pulled her in closer to him, making their faces only inches apart. MacCready moved his hands up Erin’s side until it was also on her face. Erin let out a small, but happy, sigh and began to talk.

“I really wish we could stay like this forever.” Erin said, almost dreamily. Hearing Erin’s voice was enough to make MacCready go off the edge. He pulled in her face against his and they were locked in a passionate, and long sought after, kiss. They stayed like that for what seemed like eternity, until MacCready pulled away, much to the dismay of Erin.

“I do to.” MacCready said, placing his hand back on her hip. They laid there and eventually fell asleep. When they woke up, they were cuddling on the two intertwining bedrolls. MacCready was the first to wake up and was surprised to see Erin pushed up against him, still asleep. He remembered what had happened that night and smiled. He had found the person he wanted to be with forever. He hadn’t felt like this ever since Lucy died, and he left his son to come to the Commonwealth. For the first time in a long time, MacCready was happy. Truly happy. After a few moments, Erin finally woke up. She, too, had a giant smile on her face as she turned to look at MacCready. His body was warm against hers and she hated the thought of having to get up. She kissed MacCready one last time before getting up to pack up the makeshift camp. Soon enough, they were both ready to face to Commonwealth, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Kudos are appreciated, but it's your life.
> 
> Thnx :)

**Author's Note:**

> Yea, sorry I put you through that. Feel free to leave suggestions or criticisms of my story. I have a second part in the works, but it is going to take a while.  
> I love writing, so also feel free to leave suggestions for OTHER stories you'd like to see, that other people haven't done.  
> Thanks for reading, and i hope you enjoyed it !  
> :)


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